Last April, Apple made AirPlay available in hotel rooms as part of iOS 17.3. As we mentioned at the time, the feature was first rolled out in partnership with the IHG Hotel Group, which owns many popular hotel brands (Holiday Inn, Kimpton, InterContinental, avid, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, etc.).
Initial support was limited to very few hotels, in part because it relied on support built into specific models of LG televisions used in the hotel industry.
Samsung has announced AirPlay support for its home TVs. Coming first to the HBU8000 model, and then to firmware updates for other models, it will work similarly to LG TVs: users will scan a unique QR code on the TV and establish a direct connection between their phone and the TV, keeping everything secure and private. No personal information is ever stored or recorded, and all information on the guest’s connected device is erased when the guest leaves.
It’s unclear whether this announcement signifies an expansion to hotels beyond the IHG Group hotels with which Apple first rolled out the feature, or whether the inclusion of AirPlay on Samsung Hospitality TVs will simply make the feature available in IHG hotels that use Samsung TVs. But over time, AirPlay support for hotel TVs should become widely available, across many hotel chains and TV brands.
